Transparent hot and cold insulating unit



Dec. 29, 1959 L ;J. (.zoRcoRAN` 2,918,709

TRANSPARENT HOT AND com INSULATING uNTT Filed April 30. y1956 INVNWR LEONARD J. CMM/1N United States Patent O TRANSPARENT HOT COLD INSULATING Leonard J. Corcoran, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application April 30, 1956, Serial No. 581,532

1 Claim. (Cl. 20-53) Another object is the provision of an insulating window unit which may be changed for hot and cold seasons or for hot and cold periods without altering its construction.

A further object is the provision of a window unit which not only controls the solar heat load on a building, but also controls the light entering said building.

Insulating windows have been in use prior to this invention having screens, including louvre screens, mounted in dead air spaces within them. However, there has been great diculty in keeping the screens in position, and in preventing leakage of air into the dead air space. The screens, usually formed of metal, expand and contract when exposed to heat and cold, so that they break away from their fastenings or become deformed under this action. Often the tension required to keep the screen taut imposes stresses on the seal that would cause the latter to fail. Furthermore, when the screen was exposed to the sun, it created a hot spot in the window which was disadvantageous during hot weather.

A transparent insulating unit according to the present invention is so constructed that it includes a heat radiating section that is usually located at the inner surface of the unit when the latter is used in cold weather, thereby radiating heat from the sun rays into the building. The

unit also includes means for insulating the radiating secv tion from the cold outside atmosphere. The construction of the transparent unit also allows it to be turned over so that the heat radiating section is usually at the outer surface of the unit during hot weather. Therefore, the heat of the radiating section is exposed to the moving outside air which removes the heat therefrom, and the section is insulated from the inside of the building.

This novel insulating unit includes an assembly comprising a first outer and an inner sheet of glass, a screen positioned between the glass sheets, said sheets and screen forming a heat radiating section, and a second `outer sheet of glass spaced from the inner sheet to form therebetween a dead air space, said dead air space reducing heat transmission in the direction of the second sheet, and said radiating section being exposed to the weather during hot outside temperatures and away from the weather in cold outside temperatures.

An example of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a transparent insulating unit,

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the unit illustrating the cold season or period setting thereof,

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, illustrating the hot season or period setting of the window, and

'ice

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one form of louvre screen that may be used in the transparent unit.

This window unit may have any desired form of frame, the one illustrated in the drawings being merely an example. The invention lies in the position of the sheets of glass and the screen relative to each other. While the term glass is used throughout this specification and the accompanying claim, it is to be understood that this term is intended to include any transparent material, such as a clear plastic, which may be used in a window.

Referring to the drawings, 10 is a hot and cold insulating unit or window including a peripheral frame 11 formed of any suitable material, such as aluminum, wood, or the like. This frame may have any desired shape, and in this example, it is rectangular. A rst outer sheet of glass 15 is mounted within frame 11 at the edge 16 of the latter. An inner sheet of glass 18 is mounted in the frame and is spaced inwardly from sheet 15 to form a space 19 therebetween. A screen 22 is disposed between the sheets 15 and 18. Any desired form of screen may be used made ofmetaI, plastic or other suitable material, but it is preferable` to use a louvre screen of any desired construction, one form of louvre screen suitable for this purpose being illustrated in Figure 4. This screen is made up of a plurality of spaced angularly-disposed louvres 24 held together by one or more sets of wires 25 and 26 weaving back and forth around the louvres. This screen may be placed between sheets 15 and 18 without any special fastening since the sheets will hold it in position in a flat plane. It is desirable, although not absolutely necessary, to lower the pressure of the air in space 19 a little below atmospheric pressure so that the outside pressure presses the sheets against the screen, thereby bringing the louvres in contact with the glass and thus facilitating tlow of heat generated on screen to adjoining panes of glass. The two glass sheets and the screen form a heat-radiating section 27. This section is secured in frame 11 in any convenient manner, and it may be held in position by a suitable adhesive composition 28. This composition may be a synthetic rubber compound, bituminous compound, or the like.

A second outer sheet of glass 32 is mounted in frame 11 at the edge 33 of the latter, said sheet 32 being spaced from the inner sheet 18 to form a dead air space 35 therebetween. A spacer 36 may be provided between the sheets 18 and 32, and in this form, the spacer is connected to and spaced from the frame 11 by a web 37. The space between the frame and spacer may be filled by a composition 40 that may be the same as composition 28. In addition to this, the same composition may be used at 41 to seal the sheet 32 in the frame.

Transparent unit 10 is designed so that either of its outer sheets of glass may be exposed to the weather, depending upon the season or the outside temperatures. The unit may be removed from a window frame, turned over, and replaced -in said frame, or frame 11 may be provided with trunnions 44 about which the unit may be swung.

lWhile trunnions 44 are illustrated in Figure l projecting laterally from the unit so that the latter can swing around a horizontal axis, it will be understood that the trunnions may be located at the top and bottom of the unit, in which case it would swing around a vertical axis. As the supporting frame for the unit does not form part of this invention, it is not described herein.

The term exposure to the weather is intended to mean facing outside the building in which the window unit is located.

Figure 2 shows the window unit set for cold outside temperature.- The sheet 32 is exposed to the weather, while the heat radiating section 27 is away from the weather or faces inwardly of the building. The lovres 24 of screen 22 are so positioned that they incline downwardly when the window is in this position from the first outer sheet towards the inner sheet 18. The value of this window is greatly enhanced if, referring to this setting, all the upper or corresponding louvre surfaces 48 are darkened to absorb heat from sun rays, and the opposite or lower surfaces 49 of the louvres are bright to retiect sun rays. The latter surfaces may be polished or suitably coated to act as reflectors. In other words, normally during the cold temperature setting, the darkened surfaces are uppermost, and the bright surfaces face downwardly.

In Figure 2, the arrow 52 represents the direction of the sun rays. It will be seen that the louvres 24 will prevent the rays from shining directly through the transparent unit, and that the said rays strike the darkened surfaces 48 of the louvres where the heat is absorbed. This causes the glass panel 15 to get hot so that it acts in the same manner as a radiant panel to direct heat inside the building. The dead air space 35 reduces transmission of this heat to the outer face of the unit where it would be exposed to the cold currents of air outside the building. Therefore, with this setting, the window absorbs heat from the sun rays and tends to protect this heat from the cold outside atmosphere, while making the heat available to the interior of the building.

Figure 3 shows the hot temperature setting of the unit and arrow 55 indicates the direction of the sun rays. The window unit has been turned over vertically, that is, around trunnions 44, so that the radiant heating section 27 is exposed to the weather. Here again, the angular etting of the louvres 24 of the screen prevent the sun rays rom pouring straight into the building, and the bright surfaces 49 of said louvres are exposed to the rays so that the latter are reflected to the outside of the building. Some heat will be absorbed by the section 27, but this is at the outside of the building so that the moving atmosphere will tend to absorb and remove the heat. At the same time, the dead air space 35 reduces transmission of this heat into the building. Therefore, this window unit prevents sun rays from entering the building, reliects a good percentage of the heat of the rays, and absorbs some heat and makes the latter available to the moving atmosphere outside the building, while insulating the inside of the building from said heat.

The glass sheets 15 and 18 not only serve to retain screen 22 in its proper at position without any special holding means therefor, but they help to disperse by conduction the heat generated on the screen owing to their physical contact therewith. While for most purposes the window unit would be turned over around a horizontal axis for hot and cold settings, as described above, it may be swung around a vertical axis on some occasions. In this case, the louvre screen would not be turned over. Therefore, if the dark or bright surfaces of the louvres are uppermost before the turning operation, they will remain so after the turning, but the louvres will slope downwardly in the opposite direction. For example, were it necessary to stop rays reected upwardly from water, snow or any other bright surface, the louvres set as in Figure 3 would not do it. However, if the window unit of Figure 2 were pivoted around a vertical axis, the louvres would be set to prevent light reilected upwardly from entering the building.

The setting of this window unit is usually changed for hot and cold seasons. However, it may be changed in much shorter cycles, that is, for example, between night and day, or hot and cold days. As previously stated, the unit may be completely lifted out of its supporting frame and swung horizontally or vertically to the desired setting, after which it is replaced in the frame, or the unit may be provided with horizontal or vertical pivots to facilitate the changing of the settings. In the latter case, the settings could only be changed according to the pivot arrangement of the unit.

While it usually is desirable to have the bright surface 49 of the louvres facing upwardly during the hot temperature setting of the unit, as in Figure 3, these surfaces might be made dull and heat-absorbing for some purposes, such as, for example, if the unit is located on the north side of the building. In this case, it might be desirable to keep the direct sun rays out and to absorb some heat for the building.

What I claim as my invention is:

A transparent insulating building panel reversibly mounted for positioning commensurate with the outside temperature, comprising a tubular frame mounted in the plane of a wall of said building, a plurality of glass panes mounted within said frame and in air-tight engagement therewith, the iirst of said panes mounted adjacent the inside end of said frame, the second of said panes mounted parallel to and separated from said first pane by a first air space at below atmospheric pressure within said frame, a metallic support mounted in said rst air space and directly engaging said first and second panes, a series of rectangular metallic slats longitudinally juxtaposed within said first space and fixedly secured in direct engagement with said support, said slats being inclined downwardly at about 45 away from said first pane, the upper sides of said slats being darkened to render them heat absorptive and the lower sides of said slats being polished to render them heat reflective, the third of said panes being mounted parallel to said first and second panes adjacent the outside end of said frame, said third and second panes being separated by a second dead air space, said panel being thus disposed for cold weather, and means connecting said panel and said wall for reversing the disposition of said panel through a turn for hot weather, whereby said first and second panes and said slats operatively engaging therewith act as a heat radiating section in a direction from said second pane toward said rst pane, and said second and third panes and said second dead air space therebetween act as a heat reducing section in a direction from said second pane toward said third pane.

References Cited in thc tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,239,528 Knudsen Apr. 22, 1941 2,545,906 Watkins Mar. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 840,593 Germany .Tune 3, 1952 

